Flu Prevention

Dear Parents,

As you know, flu can be easily spread from person to person. Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu here at Jacksonville Christian Academy. We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season. But, we need everyone’s help to do this.

We are working closely with the state health and education agencies and obtaining information from even the CDC, to monitor flu conditions, and find the best precautions. We are using that info to make decisions about the best actions to take at school. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

**If the flu becomes more severe, the CDC recommends additional steps to prevent its spread such as:
- Conducting active fever and flu symptom screening of students and staff here at school. **
- Making changes to increase the space between people such as moving desks farther apart and
postponing class trips. **
- Dismissing students from school for at least 7 days if they become sick. **
- Closing a class or school for a time if someone is diagnosed with a condition more severe than
regular influenza.
**Again, these are CDC recommendations that we will only consider if the flu becomes more severe. We have had a few regular flu cases so far, but our present situation is normal for this season.

We are doing many things to keep our school functioning as usual, including daily cleaning and disinfecting. Here are a few things you can do to help:

1. Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water and use an alcohol-based hand rub in-between washings. You can train this habit by doing it yourself.

2. Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food, or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm, or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.

3. Know the signs and symptoms of the flu. Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.

4 Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs. Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected.

5. Do not send children to school if they are sick. Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home.

For more information, visit www.flu.gov, or call1-800-CDC-INFO for the most current information about the flu. We will notify you of any additional changes to our school’s strategy to prevent the spread of flu.

Sincerely,


Joe Tarr
Principal